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The best players who never slipped on the Green Jacket at the Masters

By David Salituro

14 Apr 1996: Greg Norman of Australia feels the pressure after hitting the first ball of the final round off the fairway and in to the crowd during the final round of the 1996 Masters at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. Mandatory Credit:Stephen Munday/ALLSPORT
14 Apr 1996: Greg Norman of Australia feels the pressure after hitting the first ball of the final round off the fairway and in to the crowd during the final round of the 1996 Masters at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. Mandatory Credit:Stephen Munday/ALLSPORT /
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Rory McIlroy’s reacts during the 75th Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia, on Sunday, April 10, 2011. (Tim Dominick/The State/MCT via Getty Images)
Rory McIlroy’s reacts during the 75th Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia, on Sunday, April 10, 2011. (Tim Dominick/The State/MCT via Getty Images) /

2. Rory McIlroy

Rory McIlroy came to the 2011 Masters as a can’t-miss 21-year-old. Through three rounds that year, he did everything he could to fulfill that potential. The Northern Irishman had at least a share of the lead after the first three days and took a four-shot advantage into Sunday looking to win his first major championship.

He still led after making the turn, but that’s when everything started to come undone. McIlroy hit his drive at the 10th near Eisenhower Cabin, a place seldom seen on television. He triple-bogeyed the hole, then made another double bogey on the par-three 12th. By the time he was done McIlroy had shot 80 and fallen to 15th place.

Eight years later, McIlroy is still looking for that first Masters championship. He’s had other chances, finishing inside the top-10 the past five years. Last year he played in the final group on Sunday with Patrick Reed, but he missed a short eagle putt at the second hole to tie Reed and never recovered, shooting 74 and finishing in fifth place.

McIlroy’s best chance, however, might be this year. He comes to Augusta National on a streak of finishing in the top 10 at all seven PGA Tour events this season. He leads the PGA Tour in total strokes gained, off-the-tee and tee-to-green. McIlroy is playing better than anyone right now. A win this week would complete the career Grand Slam before he turns 30. What’s changed for him this year, though, is that he’s no longer putting pressure on himself to win.

“I think there’s a difference between a personal desire and a need, and I think I’ve separated those two,” he said after winning the Players Championship in March. “I would have said a couple of years ago, ‘I need to win a Masters. I need a Green Jacket.’ Where now it’s, ‘I want to. I want to win it.’ And I’d love to win it. But if I don’t I’m okay, and I think that’s the difference.”

Since that Sunday meltdown in 2011, McIlroy has won 14 times on the PGA Tour and four major championships, including by eight shots in his very next start at the U.S. Open. His Masters’ career may have begun with so much promise coupled with so much heartbreak eight years ago, but he’s not close to done competing for the Green Jacket.

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